


Complications In The Workplace

by LifeInWentworth



Category: Wentworth - Fandom
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2018-01-11 11:39:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LifeInWentworth/pseuds/LifeInWentworth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From a prompt about an alternative world where Franky never went to prison and met Erica through becoming an intern at her father's firm instead (sorry, I know you requested this a while ago, but I only just found the prompt!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Complications In The Workplace

Erica put down the phone with a sigh. To be honest, she couldn’t be bothered taking on a new intern but she couldn’t exactly say no. She could quit, she supposed, but she couldn’t do that to her father. She could only imagine leaving his firm to work in the public system like she wished; she would probably be disowned. After all, it would look bad for a Davidson to be representing clients pro bono and not charging an arm and leg for their services. After all, the only people who were worthy of her and her father’s representation were the high standing and rich members of society.  
  
There was a knock on the door an hour later and Erica quickly tidied her desk before rolling her eyes at herself; she wasn’t the one who needed to impress here, yet she always felt the pressure to when she was in this office, or around her father, or at a firm gathering… Basically, she always felt the need to prove something and quite truthfully, it was exhausting.  
“Come in,” she said lightly.  
The door squeaked open and a face appeared. She was a few years younger than Erica, and had black, kind of messily uneven hair that Erica didn’t think looked particularly professional at all. She wore a tight fitting suit on with the white collar popped up. The older woman could have rolled her eyes at this new intern’s outfit but hey, better not to judge a book by it’s cover, right? The younger woman held out her hand.  
“Franky Doyle, new intern, I was told you would be supervising me,” the younger woman stated confidently as Erica took her hand and shook it firmly.  
“Erica Davidson, nice to meet you. That’s correct, please take a seat,” she gestured for the young woman to take a seat, which she did, “So, you would have been told to bring your transcripts with you?”  
Franky nodded, “Yeah,” she said casually as she reached into her bag and handed over a stack of papers, “I’ve only got two more modules left, I was fast tracked through the degree,” she said, and Erica could almost swear the younger woman was bragging, though subtly.  
Erica nodded silently, refusing to show that she was impressed; not many people got fast tracked through a law degree and managed to keep up the high grades that were noted on her transcripts.  
“Mm, it’s a heavy workload, you know the minimum hours for this internship is fifteen hours a week, you need to be able to commit to that,” Erica said, as she placed the transcripts to one side.  
Franky had been resting her tongue on her bottom lip while the woman spoke, “I can commit to that, no problem.”  
  
Erica frowned; Franky Doyle wasn’t the first intern she’d had but they were usually less…confident, and even the over confident one’s were easy to read and usually taken down a few pegs quite quickly once Erica put them to work. In fact, many didn’t make it past two weeks.  
Erica nodded slowly, “Great. Well, I’ll get you started on some filing while I make a few phone calls – “  
“Filing?” Franky echoed, drawling on, “No offence, Erica,” she ignored the older woman’s flinching, “But I’ve been in law school for nearly four years, I can manage something a little less mundane than filing.”  
Erica raised her eyebrows; impressed by the younger woman’s ability to voice her opinion but disgruntled by the lack of respect. How had they so quickly got on first name basis?  
“Okay, well, I have a few phone calls to make so you will do some filing,” she said sternly, she wasn’t going to let this intern walk all over her or make the rules; she was the authority figure here, and well damn, she was going to make somebody in this place have some semblance of respect for her for a reason other than who her father was, “I’ll be about an hour. This afternoon, I have a few meetings, you can sit in on those, but you will be a silent participant. This means – “  
“That I’m silent?” the younger woman actually smirked, eyebrows raised.  
“This means,” Erica continued firmly, “that you will make no comment whatsoever, I will introduce you to the client and if they are happy for you to sit in, you will but they also have the right to refuse anybody else sitting in on their sessions and we will respect that. Not only will you not speak a word but you will not sigh, tut, yawn, smile, nod or shake your head. You will not pull faces or react to anything that is said. You will not show any judgment. You will not bring your phone into the room, on silent or not, your phone must not enter the consultation room. Most importantly, you need to keep in mind that everything you see and hear in this place and anywhere else we may go must remain confidential. You will have signed paperwork already stating that action may be taken against you if you break any client’s confidentiality at all.”  
Franky nodded throughout this speech with the smallest and most irritating smile on her face, she actually let out the quickest of chuckles, “Is that all?” she asked simply.  
Erica reminded herself it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to fix this woman with the withering glare that she felt she deserved, “And please, when we go to see a client can you…tidy up a bit,” she waved a hand at the other woman, “Tuck your shirt in and put your collar down. Maybe do …something with your hair,” she finished.  
Franky quirked an eyebrow, sitting up straight as she ran a hand through her hair, “Right…Sure.”  
“Right, well the filing office is just down the hallway, so I’ll show you around now.”

Erica rubbed her temples; she was getting a headache. She knew she needed to make these phone calls but she simply sat at her desk and let her mind wander a little first. This new woman, she was kind of annoying in her smugness but she did seem switched on. It probably wasn’t fair to put her on filing, that was more of a first year thing but she just needed some time to herself. Of course, she never got long and it was far too soon that her phone rang. Mark, flashed her phone. Her fiancée of five years. She ignored the call; she couldn’t be bothered playing pretend right now. Work was great, lie, she had a great new intern and was looking forward to showing her the ropes, lie, a candlelit dinner sounded nice, lie, I miss you too, lie and these days Erica didn’t even know if her I love you’s were true or not.  
  
Half an hour later she found Franky in the filing room and beckoned her out to accompany her to a meeting with a client. Franky may have played the smartass but she had done as Erica asked; tucked her shirt in and folded her collar down…the hair…. Well, Erica supposed there wasn’t much she could do about that on short notice. It did kind of suit the brunette. She looked semi-professional, Erica thought with a sigh. At least throughout the meeting, the younger woman had kept quiet and kept that expressive face expressionless. It seemed she could take instruction, which Erica definitely had an appreciation for.  
“You can go to lunch now, if you’d like,” Erica said as they walked down the corridor towards her office.  
Franky nodded, “Sure. Would you like to come with me?” she asked casually.  
Erica was taken aback at the invitation, “No, thank you. I have a few things to do, I usually eat in my office.”  
Franky shrugged, “Sure, no worries, see you in half an hour?”  
“You can have an hour,” Erica corrected.  
Franky thought for a moment, “Half an hour is plenty,” she said, turning on her heel.  
Erica watched her for a moment, smiling as the younger woman popped her collar and pulled her shirt out of her trousers. Interesting woman, Erica thought as she walked into her office, closing the door behind her.


End file.
